Romania laments brain drain

Eugen Teodorovici, Romanian Finance Minister, said the country’s brain drain is undermining Romania’s ability to compete on a European level and called on the European Union to do more to address the issue.

Teodorovici added that in Romania,which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, 1 million workers are missing and the country can’t compete with the most powerful countries in the EU. Eugen Teodorovici was speaking to reporters at a press conference ahead of an informal meeting of EU finance ministers in Bucharest.

Freedom of movement is one of the building blocks of the EU’s single market, allowing EU citizens to live and work anywhere within its 28 countries.

But that freedom has done little for Romania which has seen many of its workers leave for better-paying jobs outside the country, according to Teodorovici.

“As a whole for the EU it is a good result, this mobility of labor force,” he said. “But if you’re discussing about a case by case basis … the situation is very different.”

“If one member of the family is not happy then it’s not a happy family. I’m not happy. I’ll be happy when we find the right solutions … for our family.”

Via Politico